Fishing lures of various types are known which include a wire shank forming the body of the lure. The shank includes a hook at one end for hooking the fish and an eyelet at the other end for attaching the lure to the line. However, if the bait is to be placed onto the shank itself, the lure would have to be partially disassembled in order to do so to have access to the shank to allow the bait to be threaded or slid onto the shank. If the bait is artificial in nature, e.g. a plastic or rubber worm, the bait can be placed on the shank during the initial manufacture of the lure. However, if the bait is lost from the lure during use, because it is taken by a fish without the fish being hooked, there is no easy way to replace the bait without disassembling at least one end of the lure.
This problem has been previously recognized in fishing lures, and one solution that has been proposed is to use a separate bait holding shank, carried on the main shank, for carrying or holding the bait. The bait can be threaded onto the bait holding shank which is then pivoted relative to the main shank to engage the bait holding shank with some type of locking member to allow the bait holding shank to be held in place. If the bait is lost, a new one can be installed by releasing the bait holding shank from the locking member and by threading the new bait onto the free end of the bait holding shank. There is no need to thread the bait onto the main shank in this type of lure. U.S. Pat. No. 1,791,723 to Hampton, U.S. Pat. No. 2,237,389 to Ludwig and U.S. Pat. No. 2,871,611 to Shepard show devices of this general type.
The lures shown in such previous patents all have various disadvantages. For one thing, the locking member typically comprises a separate structural part, i.e. a hook or latch, that has to be added to and fixedly secured to the main shank. Thus, the costs for manufacturing the lure are increased since it adds a separate part and labor is required to glue, weld or solder the locking member to the main shank. Moreover, such locking members form or have various sharp edges or slots that can serve as places on which weeds, reeds or other underwater obstructions might catch. Thus, such lures are somewhat more prone to be fouled and lost during use.
Moreover, in such known lures, the rest of the lure is not designed to particularly attract fish or to integrate the bait holding shank into the lure with a particular bait in mind. For example, the locking member for the bait holding shank is demonstrably a mechanical member or element that does not resemble a natural portion of the bait that is intended for use on the bait holding shank. Moreover, the bait holding shank does not attempt to hold the bait in any special configuration.